Synopses & Reviews
What do road and railway systems, mingling at parties, mazes, family tress, and the internet all have in common? All are networks--either people or places or things that relate and connect to one another. In this lively and fun look at the mathematics of networks, Peter Higgins shows that these phenomena--and many more--all share the same deep mathematical structure. Filled with puzzles and other curious mathematical conundrums, this stimulating book offers new insights into such familiar mathematical quandaries as the four-color map, the bridges of Konisberg, and the Postman Problem (what is the most efficient way of delivering your letters, so you get back to your starting point without having traversed any street twice). Only relatively recently have mathematicians begun to explore networks and connections, and their importance has taken everyone by surprise. Nets, Puzzles, and Postmen takes readers on a dazzling tour of this new field, in a book that will delight math buffs everywhere.
Review
"Higgins writes in an invitingly transparent style, allowing nonspecialists to share intellectual adventures previously reserved for scholars."--ooklist
"Recommended [for] general readers; lower- and upper-division undergraduates."--Choice
"Recommended [for] general readers; lower- and upper-division undergraduates."--Choice
"In Nets, Puzzles, and Postmen, Peter Higgins offers a popular account of the mathematics of networks. Readers willing to expose themselves to mathematical reasoning will find themselves rewarded with numerous insight into the structure of networks." -- Science
Review
"Well written and easy to follow."--Mathematical Reviews
"In Nets, Puzzles, and Postmen, Peter Higgins offers a popular account of the mathematics of networks. Readers willing to expose themselves to mathematical reasoning will find themselves rewarded with numerous insight into the structure of networks." -- Science
About the Author
Peter M. Higgins is Professor of Mathematics and Head of Mathematical Sciences at the Univesity of Essex, UK. His previous mathematics books for a popular audience include Mathematics for the Curious, Mathematics for the Imagination, and The Official Book of Circular Sudoku. He is the inventor of Circular Sudoku which has now appeared throughout the world in magazines, book, the internet and on handheld computer games.
Table of Contents
Preface
1. Nets, trees and lies
2. Trees and games of logic
3. The nature of networks
4. Coloring and Planarity
5. How to traverse a network
6. One-way systems
7. Spanning networks
8. Going with the flow
9. Novel applications of nets
10. For Connoisseurs